Gretch Runs

'Twas the morning before Christmas, and on GretchRuns's blog, She shared a few cookie recipes, that will taste great with egg nog! A few crafts as well, that are so easy and quick, So that you have time to set up for old Saint Nick! It's the final week of GretchRuns Christmas!  I hope that you all enjoyed this series, and today I wanted to spread the love a bit.  Instead of sharing my own crafts and cookies, I decided to share a few of my favorite recipes from my friends in the Bloggers Gonna Blog group!  I hope you enjoy, and make sure you spread the cheer over to their blogs! Cookies  Oatmeal Cranberry Pecan  via Uproot from Oregon Vegan Snickerdoodles  via Fooduzzi Healthy Ferrero Rocher Truffles  via Food, Pleasure and Health Crafts Healthy Gingerbread House via a Traveling Wife Winter Chest Rub via Simple Medicine What is your favorite cookie? What are your plans for Christmas? If you do...

I can not believe that another week is here and it's time to share another Christmas post!  I've loved putting together this series, and I hope that you like what I'm sharing today! I have two super simple crafts (they're seriously so easy that I feel silly for sharing them!  But they look SO cute!) and a delicious cookie.  Don'r forget to play my song of the week while you're reading, and enjoy! P.S. if you missed any of my other Christmas posts, you can find them here ! Song Let It Snow - Dave Koz and Kenny G Today we're getting a little sassy and a lot saxy with this cover of Let It Snow!  I love how the melody is passed between the tenor sax and soprano, with lots of improv thrown in.  Such a fun song!  Maybe this will give Mother Nature a hint and Pittsburgh will get some snow this year... Craft This week we're going back to basics with some super-easy mason jar crafts.  I'm sharing two ideas, but the options are really limitl...

On the second week of Christmas, GretchRuns shared with me.... ONE festive song TWO cute shadowboxes and THREE shapes of gingerbread I'm so excited to be back for round two of my Christmas series!  This week I'm sharing one of my recent favorite Christmas songs, a holiday pin that I tried to replicate, and a traditional cookie that's delicious and simple to make.  I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you back next week for more ideas! If you missed last week's post, click here Song : Mary Did You Know : Pentatonix Last week I shared an upbeat song, so this week is a slower, more somber selection.  Pentatonix has some of the most amazing Christmas albums, and this song is my favorite.  It's so beautiful and the harmonies give me chills!   Craft : Festive Shadowbox I had so much fun replicating a shadowbox that I saw on Pinterest.  The original one had mini ornaments, but I thought it would also look cute with jingle bells.  I love ...

Happy Holidays everyone!  I'm so excited that it's December, which means it's time to bust out those decorations, surround yourself with holiday music 24/7, sip on holiday drinks and eat your weight in cookies. Today I'll be starting a new holiday series (check out my Thanksgiving posts here ) for Christmas!  Each Thursday from now until New Year's Eve I'll be sharing a favorite song, craft, and cookie.  I'm really excited and I hope you enjoy this series! Song : Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays (Nsync) I suggest you play this song in the background while you're reading this post.  Nothing gets me in the holiday mood like this song!  This song brings back so many memories of being younger and listening to this song with friends.  I can't help but smile when this song comes on, so I had to have it as my first song!  P.S., when everyone starts clapping at the end of the song, you MUST join in! Craft : Fireplace I love to decorate my cubical a...

Today is the finale of my Thanksgiving series!  If you missed the others, I shared dessert s, drinks , and side dishes .  Now it's time for some appetizers- probably my favorite part of any holiday meal!  Does anyone else fill up on the snacks and little bites before the main course is served?  I swear, I could have a meal just consisting of chips and dip. Today I'll be sharing some delicious appetizer ideas that each call for less than five ingredients, take just a few minutes to assemble, and are bite sized pieces of deliciousness! Traditional Caprese Salad Bites source Ingredients : cherry tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, balsamic glaze Directions :  On a toothpick, skewer a cherry tomato, piece of basil, and mini mozzarella ball.  Serve with a balsamic dipping sauce or glaze.   Rosemary Caprese Salad Bites source Ingredients :  cherry tomatoes, rosemary, mozzarella, balsamic glaze Directions :  Trim the leaves off the...

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope you're all having a great weekend. Today I'll be sharing part 3 of my Thanksgiving series.  I'll be talking about side dishes, and the format of today's post will be a bit different.  I'm going to be sharing one dish that I made, which is actually a combination of two side dishes that I found online.  The first dish is Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash .  The recipe called for dried cranberries, but I only had fresh.  Inspiration struck and I thought of making a cranberry sauce to dress the roasted veggies.  I have to say that the dish turned out amazingly well.  The veggies are nice and crisp from being baked in the oven, and the sauce is a little sweet, a little tart, and completely delicious. I hope you enjoy my side dish creation!  I'll also be sharing a few recipes that are really easy and quick to make, and would be fun side dishes for your Thanksgiving meal!  Make sure you come b...

Tis the season- for holiday gift guides!  Within the next month, our inboxes and blog feeds are going to be inundated with guide after guide.  What to buy for the office best friend or running pal.  What to get for the person who has everything or your newly-grad cousin who has nothing. One site that always comes out with tons of guides is Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop .  If you haven't heard of the website, it's an upper-class site full of expensive products, restaurant and travel suggestions, and tips for staying mindful and fashionable. Each year, Goop releases extravagant gift guides for different types of people.  Their gift suggestions range anywhere from less than $50 to over $90,000 (would a trip to the moon be a stocking stuffer or...?).  This year, I decided to tackle three of their guides- the Wanderer , the Ridiculous (and Awesome) , and the Dude - and try to find affordable options for a few gifts that I think are thoughtful and clever.   ...

Welcome to Part 2 of my Thanksgiving Series! (If you missed Part 1 [Desserts], click here !).  Today I'll be talking about something very special- cocktails!  I love trying new drinks at holiday parties, and it's something that I've always struggled with. I want to be that person who can just whip up a delicious cocktail with ease, but my "creations" have always ended up down the drain. Today I'll be sharing five fool-proof cocktails with you.  These seriously are fool-proof because I made them with no problem, and they actually tasted really good.  They don't have any crazy ingredients, so most things you'll either find in your fridge or can easily find in the liquor store.  They all have ingredients that you'll be able to reuse in other cocktails easily, so you're not going to be stuck with a huge bottle of peach gin from a recipe that you tried once and hated (speaking from experience here!).  The recipes are also seasonal, so they tas...

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hardly ever post on the weekend, but I'm going to be starting a series in November to share some Thanksgiving recipes.  I love to experiment in the kitchen, so I thought it would be fun to try out some holiday-themed recipes and pins , and share the result with all of you. Today I'm starting out with desserts, since they're my favorite, and I'll also share side dishes, appetizers, drinks and decorations.  I'm really excited for this series and I hope that you all enjoy it! To kick things off, I'm going to share a dessert that I made for a volunteer appreciation dinner at the Humane Society.  I wanted to make something that's easy to eat and also really tasty.  I also wanted to have options for everyone, so I decided to make mini pies!  Who doesn't love mini food? I chose four different mini pies, and played around with the recipes to make 8 of each kind of pie.  I used Trader Joe's pie crust, and found that one...